“But the age Joe is, he stands a great chance of being the best - and he’s the best English goalkeeper by a mile, no question.

“But what concerns me is that there is nobody challenging him for that position. I don’t want him to get too over-confident - where he doesn’t have to worry about his place.

“Nobody is pushing him at all. He’s not even being pushed by his club.”

Banks is worried by the lack of quality goalkeepers in the England squad, aside from Hart, and contrasted this to the situation when he wore the Three Lions.

“When I came through, there was Ron Springett and then Ray Clemence,” he said. “You couldn’t have a bad game and then say to yourself that you’d have to be in the squad because there is nobody else. You had to be on your toes.

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“I remember Alf Ramsey would always make the point of going round all the players after we had played a Wednesday night international and say goodbye.

“When he came to me, I said, ‘See you Alf’. He stopped and replied, ‘Will you?’

"It was just a reminder you couldn’t pick yourself for the next match.

“Now, we have no strength in depth whatsoever.”

Banks feels Hart’s only weakness is in dealing with high balls, but concedes that aspect of the game is harder for present-day keepers.

“Crosses are the only weakness to his game, but it is more difficult for a goalkeeper because of the lightness of the ball and the way it moves in the air,” he said.

“Okay, he might misjudge one or two crosses, but that will come with experience, because for a big man he is very agile.”

Gordon Banks was speaking at the launch of The Football Pools 90th season campaign - in the 90th - that crucial minute when fortunes are decided. For your chance to win £1,000 vote for your most influential 90th minute goal of all time at www.mirror.co.uk/inthe90th.